St. Johns commissioners debate 2050 Comprehensive Plan redlines; motion to limit changes fails

St. Johns County commissioners spent more than an hour on May 20 debating a draft 2050 Comprehensive Plan update that would revise the county’s long-range growth policies, including proposed ‘‘redline’’ language moving some compatibility and infrastructure rules into the Land Development Code. The board rejected a motion to adopt a narrower version of the plan by a 2–3 vote. Chris Dougherty, the county’s consultant from Inspire Placemaking Collective, presented the draft and told the board the Comprehensive Plan should function as a policy-guiding document rather than a regulatory one and that the Land Development Code should be updated within 12 months after the Comprehensive Plan update. Michael Roberson, the county’s Growth Management director, and Jacob Smith, planning director, described draft changes to the future land use map and new conservation and…